Norris pettehs co



- lll'irnn GEORGE YV. SPRINGER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters ?ate`nt No.`610,835, datedSeptember 13, 1898. Application filed December 1, 1897. Serial No. 660,392. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. SPRINGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,havel invented certain new and useful Improvements in AntirattlingThill- Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to a novel antirat tling thill-coupling, theprimary object of the invention being to produce a device of thischaracter which'will effectually couple the thills to the vehicle in amanner to prevent lost motion between the parts and to relieve thedraft-animal of the weight of the thills when hitched to the vehicle.

The invention consists in providing a thillhook secured to thevehicle-axle by the usual metallic clip and designed to receive atransverse pin extending between a pair of ears formed at the rearextremity of the chill-iron, the parts being held against vibration andthe thills being supported by a spring of peculiar form iixedly securedto the bottom of the` thill-iron, the whole being constructed in detailand organized in a manner which will more fully hereinafter appear.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of mythill-coupling complete, showing the axle in section and a portion ofthe thill broken away. Eig. 2 is a top plan view of the subject-matterof Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the thill-iron, and Fig. lis asimilar view of the axle-clip and thill-hook.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, l indicates the shaft of thevehicle, and 2 the thill-iron of my coupling. The clip member 5 consistsof a hook arranged in advance of the axle and having an upwardly andrearwardly projecting bill, thus forming a forwardly and downwardlyinclined throat or slot 4C, dened between the hook proper and the bodyof the clip 5. y

6 indicates the base-plate, extending horizontally under the axle, andthrough the rear end of which is passed a bolt 7, which engages theextremity of a strap 8, extending over the top of the axle in a mannerwhich will be readily understood. The upper end of the slot 4 is flaredbycurving the extremity of the hook in order to permit the readydisplacement or replacement of a pin 9, extending between a pair of ears10, projecting in a direction nearly at right angles to the thilliron 11and constituting a par-t thereof. The thill-iron is secured to the endof the thill, as by bolts 12 or other suitable means, which likewisesecure to the iron a powerful leafspring 14, extending rearwardly andhaving its free end bent to conform approximately to the exteriorcurvature of the hook when the thills are thrown up and are permitted torest against the front of the vehicle in an inclined position. Theextremity of the spring is snubbed or turned back to facilitate itsmovement from the'lower face of the coupling member with which it is incontact, and it will be observed that the spring will exert a tendencyto prevent the depression of the thills to a horizontal position,inasmuch as the latter will swing upon a pivotal axis concentric withthe curved front face of the hook, while the free end of the spring isforced to move rearwardly in a horizontal plane as it slides along thelower horizontal face of the base-plate of the coupling member. For thisreason also the thills when depressed in a horizontal position areconstantly urged upwardly, but are retained in proper positions by thebelly-band of the harness, the entire weight of the thills being removedfrom the saddle, or rather from the draft-animal.

If desirable, a rubber shield 15 may be secured at its opposite ends tothe projecting extremities of the pintle for the purpose of protectingthe coupling from dust, dirt, or.

other substance which would interfere with the proper operation of thedevice.

It will be observed that I have produced a simple and eflicientthill-coupling which will tend to urge the thills upwardly and removetheir weight from the draft-animal and which will prevent vibration orlost motion of the parts and thereby reduce the wear incident to the useof the device to the minimum.

While the construction illustrated and described appears at this time tobe preferable, I do not desire to limit myself to the structural detailsdefined, but reserve the right to IOO under side of the thill-iron andhaving a curved end which bears against the lower surface of thebase-plate, whereby the tension of the spring is increased as the thillis lowered, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEO. W. SPRINGER.

Witnesses:

MARTIN J. DoBsoN, A. L. RAMSEY.

